Latest California Healthline Stories
House Passes Feinstein’s Bill Aiming To Reauthorize Stamps Raising Funds for Breast Cancer Research
Last week, the House approved the Breast Cancer Research Stamp Reauthorization Act, which is sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The legislation now heads to President Obama. The bill would reauthorize the U.S. Postal Service’s issuance through 2019 of certain stamps, the proceeds of which go toward breast cancer research at NIH and the Department of Defense’s Medical Research Program. Since 1998, the stamps have raised $81 million. Longmont Times-Call.
Senate Bill Looks To Increase Access to Telehealth in Rural Areas
A U.S. Senate bill would allow hospitals to test new telehealth programs through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and task CMMI with evaluating telehealth models based on care improvements, cost and effectiveness. Meanwhile, a separate Senate bill expected later this month would allow providers to use telehealth tools in some alternative payment programs. mHealth Intelligence et al.
DOJ Health Care Fraud Recoveries Down in FY 2015, Total $1.9B
The Department of Justice recovered more than $1.9 billion from judgments and settlements in health care fraud cases in 2015, marking the lowest amount recovered from such cases since 2009. Experts say the lower recovery amount is in large part because of an absence in significant drug industry settlements and not related to less scrutiny of health care fraud at DOJ. Modern Healthcare.
California Health Care Personnel Roundup for November 2015
Kelly Green, who previously was a principal consultant for the Assembly Health Committee, has been named director of external affairs at Covered California. Stephen Bauman has been named director of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Central California Health Care System in Fresno.
Kaiser Permanente To Acquire Seattle-Based Health Insurer
On Friday, Kaiser Permanente announced that it will acquire Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle-based health insurer with nearly 600,000 members. Analysts say the move suggests Kaiser is looking to expand its model of integrated care to new markets. Los Angeles Times.
Calif. Among 28 States Needing To Upgrade Medicaid Systems
California is among 28 states that need to upgrade their outdated Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems. CMS published a final rule to ensure that billions of dollars in funding will be available to help such upgrades, saying, “We believe that most states have not had sufficient time to complete the total system replacement for … eligibility functionality.” Modern Healthcare.
Blood Banks Merge To Create New Organization Serving Northern, Central California
On Thursday, Sacramento-based BloodSource announced plans to merge with San Francisco-based Blood Centers of the Pacific to create a new not-for-profit organization that will be the largest supplier of blood in Northern and Central California. As part of the merger BloodSource will become part of Blood Systems, which is one of the largest not-for-profit community blood services providers in the U.S. Sacramento Business Journal.
Policy Aims To Bolster Air Quality Controls To Protect Public Health
Last week, the South Coast Air Quality Management District adopted a new policy to revamp its pollution-control program. The policy aims to lower harmful smog levels by incentivizing facilities to strengthen their pollution controls. Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times.
SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments in Case Involving Health Insurer Data Collection
The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual, a case concerning whether Vermont can require self-insured health plans to provide claims data for the state’s all-payer claims database. Vermont Solicitor General Bridget Asay told the justices that the state only asks for data that insurers already collect and that can be easily transferred electronically. However, Liberty Mutual attorney Seth Waxman argued that Vermont requires Liberty Mutual to “keep records that we don’t keep, and … display them and provide information in ways that we don’t.” Wall Street Journal, Associated Press.
Lawmakers Near Deal To Extend Health Program for 9/11 Rescue Workers for Five Years
Congressional negotiators are nearing a compromise deal to extend funding for a federal program that provides health care and financial compensation to rescue workers who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to lawmakers and aides familiar with the negotiations. Without action, both program is scheduled to expire in 2016. The compromise proposal would provide nearly $2.78 billion to reauthorize the program for an additional five years. The Hill.